Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Allegiant (Divergent #3) - Veronica Roth [Review]

One choice will define you.What if your whole world was a lie?What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Review:

Spoilers!

I was so excited to read this book, after loving Divergent and Insurgent. Unfortunately I was really disappointed by this book.

Instead of my usual review scheme, analyzing characters etc, I will just explain to you my criticism of the book.

The most disappointing thing in Allegiant I thought was the ending with Tris dying. It was definitely not what I had expected and I just found it needlessly cruel. I know not every story has a happy ending, but every good thing at the end was overshadowed by grief for Tris. If it had been a beautiful death with meaning I would maybe have accepted it, but it wasn't. Tris chose to steal Caleb's chance at redemption and be the selfless hero herself. And for what? To wipe the government memory while in the city the slaughter continues? I did not find it very meaningful. The worst thing was that I thought she was finally done with her sacrifices after she told us she "wanted to live" in Insurgent, which she clearly wasn't and didn't.

The story did not grab my attention like the other two did. I found myself bored at times, I felt like nothing happened most of the book. The middle part seemed only to exist of Tris and Four bickering at each other. The other books had a lot of action in it, while Allegiant consisted most of Tris and co. hanging at the government compound. I really had to drag myself through this book.

The explanation for the faction system was a bit disappointing. I really liked the dystopian faction system and it did not need a weird scientific background. The government on the outside and the opposing genes caused a lot of new problems, while I actually wanted to know what was going on in the city. I also felt like the government, the experiments and the genes etc. were explained very quickly, in a sort of info dump. It was way too much new information for a last book, especially when everything we had 'learned' in the previous books turned out to be a lie. Allegiant should just have continued in the city or Roth should have added another book to explain the new twist some more.Everything the previous books was about and built up to: the factions, the Divergent, the factionless and the war in the city, was discarded in Allegiant. As soon as we find out these problems are based on lies, they are not important anymore. The majority of the book was about the new upcoming war between GD's and GP's and how the government was corrupt. To give the reader a little closure on the items in the previous books, Evelyn chooses Tobias over the war, when at first she wants to kill all the Allegiant to get what she wants. A bit of an unrealistic and easy solution.

The dual perspective was very confusing. Most of the time I did not know who was telling the story and I had to flip back pages to check the narrator. Tris and Four had very similar voices, I did not think the dual perspective added much to the story, although it was necessary of course at the end.

This may sound a bit dramatic, but I wish I had not read Allegiant and had just stopped at Insurgent. I was disappointed by the whole of Allegiant, not just the ending. I also don't know whether I'll be able to read the first two books again without thinking how everything is actually a lie.Conclusion: the Divergent trilogy has a great beginning and a disappointing ending.

Stars: 2 out of 5

9 comments:

I had a lot of the same reactions you did. Four's POV was the same as Tris's and was also such a disappointment, he was not the same character he was in the first two books. He was just so weak and it didn't make any sense. So he finds out he's not divergent? Who cares? I thought the outside was so anticlimactic, what was the point? So many plot holes. And why was the only way to get the memory serum to blow their way through and release the death serum? Why not attack when it was being transported? There were definitely other things they could have done. And why was it ok to get rid of people's memories anyway? That didn't seem to be consistent with who Tris was. Four starts to fight her on it, and then he just folds. Ok, sure, let's wipe everyone's memories in this entire compound. That's fine. What?? And then finally, the ending. Part of me understands why the author had Tris make that sacrifice. She never felt like she was good enough to be Abnegation, she wasn't selfless, she was reckless but never really sacrificed herself for the right reason, blah blah. But then she survives the death serum (which was ridiculous, all these serums, I just have to say). Why survive it only to be shot (and that happens because she left her gun)? What? It was just so stupid and pointless. She could have easily survived and shown that she was selfless. And it wasn't like she was saving lives she was saving people who were going to have their memories wiped. It wasn't like she was throwing herself in front of a bullet to save Four or something. Even though Veronica Roth claims she had this planned from the very beginning, it just didn't read that way at all. Just so pointless. This book just left me feeling angry, sad, and empty and I absolutely loved the first two books. Oh well. This is one time I actually hope Hollywood completely changes the book when it makes the movie (assuming it does). Thanks for the honest review! ~Pam

OMG Eveline! You have to have a better spoiler notice! Lucky for me, I've already read it but if I hadn't, I'd probably kill you, haha. No just kidding but I totally skipped past your spoiler warning. I totally agree with everything you said though! I just really didn't like the ending! I normally hate open ended endings but you're right, I would've rather just read Insurgent and stopped there.

I'm halfway through this book and just OMG...I am so nervous to read the ending because this book has been receiving such bad reviews!!! I will come back and read your review after I finish it and then we can discuss ok!

Ok I finished Allegiant and wow...I'd have to agree. It wasn't a perfect ending but I don't think I would have even enjoyed it even with a happily ever after. I found a lot of confusing especially with the massive info dump on how Chicago is an experiment and you're right, a lot of it was just Tris and Tobias but for some reason I still liked it even with the ending.